Journal of a city centre Anglican Pastor in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales (UK)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Green shoots, hidden wastelands?

Of the nine present at the eight o'clock service today, there was a young man from the Czech republic, and three young women from Paris, one of whom is here for a two month course in the University Chemistry department

After the end of the main Eucharist, we sang Happy Birthday to Dorothy, gave her a bunch of flowers and shared a cake. It's her ninetieth next week. Two visitors from Bavaria joined us, surprised and delighted to be drawn in to the happy family atmosphere. Visitor numbers are still well ahead of last summer. And this is months before the super new shopping centre gets under way.

Is it true that there are signs of an end to the recession? Well, maybe Cardiff's positive and well planned development policy means that it hasn't been quite so hard hit as other places. Or maybe the symptoms of recession are less visible, displaced into the Valleys and rural areas, where the job losses hit communities so much harder, given that they never recovered from the loss of coal and steel industries to start with.

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About Me

Born into a coal mining family in South Wales. Chemistry Graduate, Bristol University, Seminary in Cardiff. Ordained priest 1970. Career in urban settings, and education in mission and development. Pastorate in Geneva during '90s. Worked in Cardiff city centre parish from November 2002 until April 2010. Now retired, but active in different voluntary roles. Married, with one son, and two married daughters, each with a daughter, and a foster daughter with a son.
Tweeting @keithkimber